Means for preventing the escape of inclosed gas



Nov. 27 1923. I 1,475,656

M. c. STEESE MEANS FOR PREVENTING THE ESCAPE OF INCLOSED GAS Filed Feb. 16 1920 J9 JO l INVENTOR a??? Mama 6 5????66,

ATTORN E Patented Nov. 27, 1923.

nurse P-Araur iorricu.

Manors c. STEESE, or nurucrn, MINNESOTA.

HEARS FOE PREVENTILl'G THE ESCAPE OF INCLOSED.G AS.

Application filed February 16,

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, MARCUS C. STEEBE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Duluth,;in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and: useful Im rovements in Means for Preventing the scape of Inclosed Gas, of which the following is a Specification.

This invention relates to means for preventing the escape of gases inclosed within receptacles, such, for example, as gas producers.

One object of the invention is toprovide simple, novel and efficient means for efi'ecthrough the wa tively sealing receptacles which containgas, in a manner such her is movable is obviated.

Another object is to provide simple, compact and reliable means for packing poker shanks at the oint where. the latter pass 1 of a gas producer.

Another object is to rovide simple and efficient packing aroun a rod which dope not depend upon a metal-to-metal contact.

These and other objects are accomplished by means of the arrangement disclosed on the accompanying sheet of drawings, in

whicha Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a gas producer embodyin my invention;

F i re 2 is a sectional view through an atta-c ment for a gas producer embodying my improved sealing means;

Figure 3.is a top plan view of the same;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of one of the segmentally-formed rings forming a part of my gas sealing means; and,

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view of the same ring arrangement.

The various novel feature of my 1nvention will be apparent from the following. description and drawings and will be ticularly pointed out in the appended clalms.

In metallurgical operations it is necessary to equip. apparatus for handling gas con taining tarry vapors with some. kind of water-seals or packing which will prevent the leak of gas around valve stems and pokers. The movable parts around which the packing must fit, namely, the valve stems or pokers, are subjectedto a reciproeating motion, sometimes vertical, and at the .same time frequently are required to move in a decided lateral direction. OW- ing to the fact that the gas to be handled movement of the that the escape of such gas through an opening through which a mem 1920. Serial No. 858,968.

carries large amounts of va rs of tar and like oils, it is not practicab e to'pack them as it is customary to pack thepiston rod of engines which do not have a wide lateral motion and where there are no tar va ore to contend with. It is almost universe practice to seal .the leak of gas around the rod or poker of a gas producer by means of a water-seal. is water-seal, as is well known, consists of an inverted cupdip ing into a chamber containing water. 0 viously, the length of the inverted cup must be equivalent to the maximum vertical poker plus sufficient depth of water to withstand the pressure inside the vessel. Furthermore, a constant flow of Water is necessar to compensate for the constant evaporation or overflow that takes place from the water-seal.

y invention comprises a new and useful means for forming a packing arounda rod or poker and depends for its eificiency upon the presence which are of the escape of gas. In fact,

of tar vapors and oils In starting up the mechanism before it has received, by condensation of vapors, a sufiicient quantity of tar and oils to make it effective, I preferably pour into the mechanism enough of such material to-form a perfect seal. In this respect the packing differs fundamentally from steam packing, which depends for its efiiciency upon a metal-to-metal contact. In my construction I distinctly and purposely avoid metal-tometal contact to prevent the escape .of gas, and depend upon the sealin action which is obtained from the tar and oils contained in the gas.

Referring it will be noted that I have shown a ducer 10, the upper part of which has a plate 11 to which my sealing arrangement is attached. Among other things, the at tachment includes a casting 12 having a chamber 13, which is covered by a plate 14, the latter being secured to the casting 12 b any suitable means, such as bolts 15. The p ate 14.- is provided with anenlarged opening 16 and the floor 17 of the chamber 13 likewise is provided with an enlarged opening 18 through which the rod or shank 19 of the poker moves. As is well known in the art, the function of the poker of a gas producer is to penetrate the carbonaceous material in the body of the producer and V 22,'each of a plurality viding a perfect seal.

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primarily in tically and also laterally because of the rela tive rotation between the body of the gas producer and the to thereof. Accordingly, the openings 16 an 18 in the plate 14 and floor 17 are enlarged to permit the necessary lateral movement of the poker rod 19. Mounted within the chamber 13 and loosely fitting around the poker rod 19, are upper and lower solid follower plates 20 and 21, respectively. Interposed between these follower plates and loosely surrounding the poker rod 19 are a plurality of packing rings which preferably is formed of of segments 23 held in cooperative position by a coiled spiral spring 24. Each of the rings 22 has formed adjacent the poker rod 19' an annular groove 25 for the reception and collection of condensed tar or oilvapors to form, in part, a seal at the opening through which the poker rod 19 passes. These packing rings 22 and the follower plates 20 and 21 have rough unfinished surfaces so that although they make contact" metal to metal at certain points, they are purposely left in an unfinished state in order to provide at all times a film or coating of tar or oil,or both, between their operating surfaces, which assists in pro- Necessarily, the combined thickness of the packing rings 22 and the follower plates 20 and 21 is less than the vertical dimension of the chamber 13, and the overall diameter of said rings and plates is less than the internal diameter of said chamber, so that said packing rings and plates with the poker rod -arefree to move laterally in said chamber. lit will be noted that the poker rod 19 is loosely mounted within the rings 22 and plates 20 and 21, the space therebetween being filled by condensed tar or oil vapors. said relatively viscous fluids completely filling the space between the rings and follower plates, between the follower plates and the cover plate 1 1 and the floor 17 of the chamber, and between such parts and the poker rod 19, forming a perfect seal against the escape of gas through the opening through which the poker passes. These tar and oil vapors are produced during the production of gas and the distillation of the coal in the gas producer, and collect in my packing mechanism in a condensed viscous form to maintain the seal in question. lit will be understood, of course, that the temperature to which this sealing mechanism is exposed is suiliciently low to produce condensation of the tar and oil vapors contained in the Conse quently, all of the parts thereof remain corn stan'tly coated with. tar and oil.

In starting up'the apparatus before any tar or oil vapors have been formed, the chamber 13 may be providedwith any suitable relatively viscous material, such as heavy oil for forming the seal, the'sealing material being supplied through a normally closed plug opening 26 14. In practice I have found it is rarely necessary to refill thechamber 13, inasmuch as the .condensation compensates for the.

leakage which would otherwise take place.

In case pitch forms in the mechanism, the

the use of' same can be readily loosened by kerosene applied through the plug opening 26. In this connection it may be statedthat there is more or less of a tendency for pitch or tar to bake or harden on the poker rod 19 in the neighborhood of the follower plate 21. The poker rod 19, however, is maintained clean by such follower plate, in view of the fact that the latter, is solid and serves to shear off any accumulated material within practical limits. This plate, however, does not fit so closely as to prevent tar vapors from accumulating in thegrooves 25 and between the plates in question.

It is my intention to cover all modifications of the invention falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A. gas producer wall provided Witha poker rod opening, and means to prevent the escape of gases around the poker rod, said means comprising a plurality of sealing members having openings adapted to register in alignment with the poker rod opening and of substantially the same diameter as that of'the poker rod, the walls of the respective openings being provided with seats for the reception of viscous material formed by the condensation of vapors emitted from the gas.

2. A gas producer wall provided with a poker rod opening, and means to prevent the escape of gases'around the poker rod, said means including a plurality of discs having openings adapted to register and receive the poker rod, the walls of the openings having annular grooves to receive viscous material formed by the condensation of the vapors emitted by the gas, each disc being formed in segments and provided with a contractile spring embracing the segments and holding them in assembled relation.

3. A sealing device for the poker rods of gas producers comprising a chamber hav' ing inner and outer aligned poker rod open ings, and a plurality of sealing members contained within the chamber and provided with openings adapted to register in alignment with the openings in the chamber, the walls of the openings of said sealing memhers being provided with annular grooves for the reception of viscous material produced by the condensation of vapors emitted inthe cover plate lid from the gases of the gas producer to produce a seal between the poker rod and the walls of the openings.

4. A sealing device for the poker rods of gas producers comprising a chamber having inner and outer aligned poker rod 0 nings, and a plurality of sealing mem rs contained within the chamber and provided with openings adapted to register in alignment with the openings in the chamber, the walls of the openings of said sealing mem bers being provided with annular grooves for the reception of viscous material produced by the condensation of vapors emitted from the gases of the gas producer to produce a seal between the poker rod and the walls of the openings, the diameters of the sealing members being less than the internal diameter of the chamber to permit. edgewise movement of the sealing members, and the openings in the, inner and outer Walls of the chamber being larger than the openings in the sealing members to permit angular movements of a poker rod.

5. A sealing device for the poker rods of gas producers comprising a chamber having inner and outer aligned poker rod openings, and a lurality of sealing members contained witiiin the chamber and provided with openings adapted toregister in alignment with the openings in the chamber, the

walls of the openings of said sealing members being provided with annular grooves for the reception of viscous material produced by the condensation of vapors emitted from the gases of the gas producer to produce a seal between the poker rod and the walls of the openings, the chamber being provided with an opening and a removable closure for said opening.

6. A sealing device for the poker rods of gas producers, comprising a chamber havirig a removable outer end and an inner attaching flange, the inner and outer ends of the chamber being provided with aligned openings to receive a poker rod, said openings being bevelled to permit angular movements of the poker rod, and a plurality of sealing discs within and of less diameter than the chamber and capable of edgewise movement therein to accommodate angular movements of a poker rod, each sealing disc having an opening for the reception of a poker rod and the wall of the opening bemg provided with an annular groove, each disc also being formed of segments, and springs embracing the respective discs for holding the segments assembled.

A i ned at Duluth, Minnesota, this 9th day of F' ebruary, 1920.

MARCUS C. STEESE. 

